It seems in the last six months or so, the demand for food flights and drink flights has grown tremendously in Omaha. It started with a coffee shop announcing its hot and ice flights of four flavors, and then suddenly, we all started craving samples of everything. Read on for what Omaha restaurants, bars and coffee shops have come up with!
Drink flights
You’d think breweries and wineries would have cornered the market, but no, there are plenty of drink flights in Omaha that go beyond those. From coffee to martinis and boba tea, there are samples to please just about any taste.
1. Arnold Palmer Flights
Where: Karma Koffee, 587 N. 155th Plaza
What: Karma Koffee has combined black tea with lemonade and added ingredients to make a new Arnold Palmer Flight. Get a choice of five for $14.99, including flavors like Julep Palmer, Peach Palmer, Violet Palmer, Garden Party Palmer, and Black & Blue Palmer.
Karma Koffee also offers coffee flights and hot chocolate flights.
2. Beer flights
Where: The Benson Brewery, 6059 Maple St.; Site-1 Brewing, 2566 Farnam St.; Thunderhead Brewery (1037 Jones St. and 13304 W. Center Road, suite 126); Upstream Brewing Co., 514 S. 11th St.; Vis Major Brewing Co., 3501 Center St.
What: You’ll find a lot of breweries offer flights sample four or more their beers. I’ve only included a handful here, but you can check this list of Omaha breweries to find more.
Tips: The Benson Brewery has a buy two flights, get on free deal on Wednesdays.
3. Boba flights
Where: The Bánh Mì Shop, 923 Galvin Road S, suite 101, Bellevue, Neb., and Jones Bros. Cupcakes (Aksarben location) 2121 S. 67th St.
What: Boba drinks are basically bubble drinks. They’re tea-based drinks that typically have chewy tapioca balls in them, but they can be made with other toppings. Jones Bros. offers flights of four boba flavors to taste. The most popular flavors are are watermelon, Dragonfly (passion fruit and strawberry), and grape.
4. Champagne flights
Where: Homy Inn, 1510 N. Saddle Creek Road
What: Homy Inn is known for having champagne on tap, so it only makes sense that the flight they offer is champaign. You can try a flight of all four varieties on tap (dry, sweet, strawberry, and peach) for $15.
5. Cider flights
Where: Glacial Till Cider House and Tasting Room, 1419 Silver St., Ashland, Neb.; Ditmars Orchard & Vineyard, 19475 225th St., Council Bluffs, Iowa
What: Neither of these places listed are in Omaha, but trust me, driving to them is worth it. Glacial Till has a variety of their ciders on tap, but definitely include their original in your tastings to compare everything to – it’s the gold standard.
Ditmars offers a $5 flight of its hard ciders, and there are six usually on tap (as of this press time, they had on tap: Harvest Apple, Strawberry Basil, Black Raspberry Pie, Black Cherry, Eagle Eye Sapphire, and Bone Dry Apple). They partnered with Sacrilegious Ciderworks in Glenwood, Iowa, to make them.
6. Coffee flights
Where: Karma Koffee, 587 N. 155th Plaza, and Zen Coffee Co., 132nd and Center street
What: Karma Koffee has flights that include five drinks at 8 ounces each, and they can be iced or hot. They’re available for $19.99. Note that reservations aren’t required but are helpful, so call 402-885-8892.
The flights at Zen are four 6-ounce drinks. You can choose from hot and iced beverages, with more than 30 options. No blended drinks, though. A few favorites include Honey Bee, Belgian Waffle, Smores, Matcha, Chai, and Lavender Lemonade.
For a unique twist, since this is mostly an adult list of beverages, Zen Coffee makes kids boards with kids lattes (no espresso) and lemonade.
7. Margarita flights
Where: MULA Mexican Kitchen, 3932 Farnam St.; Moran’s Grill, 3909 Twin Creek Drive, Bellevue, Neb.
What: MULA offers a flight of three popular margarita flavors: house, cucumber and jalapeño. Moran’s Grill offers both margarita flights and mimosa flights on the weekends.
8. Martini flights
Where: West End Cocktails and Appetizers, 1529 S. 203rd St., Suite 1
What: Choose any four of their signature martinis for a flight with 5-ounce rocks glasses. You can substitute signature cocktails for an additional fee.
9. Wine flights
Where: Ditmars Orchard & Vineyard, 19475 225th St., Council Bluffs, Iowa
What: The orchard has partnered with Prairie Crossing Vineyard to offer $5 flights (in addition to the cider flights mentioned above). Wines are on the sweeter side, and you get your choice of five from 15 wines available. I’m told their most popular wines are Barely Legal (“named because it was created the week Lyle’s daughter took her bar exam, but it also fits because it dangerously tastes like Welch’s grape juice…”) and the dry wine, Neighbor.
Food flights
Come hungry when you plan on getting a food flight in Omaha. Or at least, bring a buddy to help you finish. Here are a few of the tasty food flights in the city.
10. Dessert flights
Where: The Bubbly Tart, 3020 Leavenworth St.
What: Dessert flights at The Bubbly Tart feature eight different kinds of desserts and it’s definitely enough for two people. For $20, it comes with cookies, cookie sammies, cheesecake, macarons, brownies, and tarts.
11. Ice cream flight
Where: Graley’s Creamery & Confections, 147 N. Washington St., Papillion, Neb.
What: Graley’s ice cream flights consist of seven flavors of your choice. It’s the time to be adventurous, as there are always a few pretty unique flavors (recent ones have been Peanut Butter and Jelly, Chicago Popcorn, Lavender Honey, and Black Raspberry). In the summer, flights are only available Mondays through Thursdays and served indoors only. In the winter, they’re available every day.
I’ve had Graley’s ice cream and was not disappointed. I added it to my list of best ice cream shops in the Omaha metro!
12. Meatball flight
Where: The Blackstone Meatball, 3910 Harney St. and 18101 Chicago St.
What: Try all five meatballs (Classic Beef, Romesco Pork, Pesto Chicken, Mushroom & White Bean, and Special Ball/Chef’s Creation) and all five sauces (Bolognese, Marinara, Pesto, Garlic Alfredo, El Diablo) in the meatball flight.
13. Steak flight
Where: The Committee Chophouse, 302 S. 36th St.
What: Each month, the classy steakhouse offers a different featured steak flight. Steak flights are only available Sunday through Wednesday. Come hungry!
Related post: Still hungry? Check out these gut-busting Nebraska food challenges!
Did I miss any? Please leave a comment if you’ve come across other flights in the Omaha metro area!